


Reboot

by LacePendragon



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canonical Character Death, During V5, Gen, Mild Angst, Resurrection, grey morality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-13 21:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16480352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LacePendragon/pseuds/LacePendragon
Summary: System Files Corrupt. Please reboot and try again.





	Reboot

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written November 28th, 2017. Reposted October 31st, 2018. Happy Halloween.

“Access code ATLS001-IRNWD. Reboot system files.”

_Accessing…_

_Accessing…_

_Warning: System Files Corrupt. Please reboot and try again._

“Damn it! There must be something I’m doing wrong.”

~*~*~

“Access code ATLS001-IRNWD. Locate system file PENNY01.exe.”

_Locating…_

_Locating…_

_Error: System File PENNY01.exe is not available. Please reboot and try again._

“I will crack this. I know I will.”

_Please reboot and try again._

“I have to.”

~*~*~

“Access code ATLS001-IRNWD. Rerun system scan for new files.”

_Rerunning…_

_Rerunning…_

_System Scan successful. New files located._

“Reboot PENNY01.exe.”

_Rebooting…_

_Rebooting…_

_Rebooting…_

_A flicker of light. A blur of motion._

_Error: System Failure. Not enough memory._

_Nothingness._

~*~*~

“Access code ATLS001-IRNWD. Reboot system files PENNY01.exe and STRDMMRS.exe.”

_Rebooting…_

_Scanning files…_

_Warning: Program PENNY01.exe is corrupted. Please restore the program to its original integrity._

“No. That’s not possible. I tried so _hard._ You can’t be gone. I can’t lose you.”

_A hand pressed against cold._

_Nothingness._

~*~*~

“General Ironwood! What can I do for you?”

“I need your help.”

“Of course, sir. What can I help you with?”

“I need you to get me the relic.”

“Sir, but… Ozpin…”

“Is dead. I need… please. I can’t do this alone.”

“…Of course, sir. Lead the way.”

~*~*~

“Access code ATLS001-IRNWD. Scan for new power source.”

_Scanning…_

_Power source found._

“Run program PENNY01.exe.”

_Running…_

_Running…_

_Light._

_Error._

_Shadow._

_Error: Program PENNY01.exe is corrupted. Please restore the program to its original integrity._

~*~*~

_Error: Program PENNY01.exe is corrupted. Please restore the program to its original integrity._

~*~*~

_Error: Program PENNY01.exe is corrupted. Please restore the program to its original integrity._

~*~*~

_Error…_

“Damn it! What did you do different? Why can’t we do it again?”

_Light._

_Darkness._

~*~*~

_Error…_

“I’m not giving up on you.”

_Light._

~*~*~

_Error…_

“I won’t give up.”

_Flickers of motion._

_Of existence._

_Of heat._

~*~*~

_Error…_

“I can’t lose you.”

_Please, don’t leave me._

~*~*~

_“…And we are sad to report that the rising trend of illness continues in the Atlas Hospital of Learning, where several young women have slipped into comas and are expected to pass within the next few days.”_

“A life for a life. Nothing for free.”

_“In other news, the ongoing trend of using headbands as bracelets continues—”_

“A program can’t corrupt if there’s no program to corrupt.”

_What happened?_

~*~*~

“I need your help again.”

“The relic?”

_Why am I here?_

“Yes.”

“It didn’t work last time.”

“This time is different.”

_Why am I awake?_

“How do you know?”

“This time I’m not using a machine.”

“…The girls at the hospital. You wouldn’t.”

_Is this my punishment?_

“They’re dying.”

“So, you’ll speed it up?”

“It’s for the greater good.”

“Maybe, but don’t pretend this isn’t selfish.”

_Am I trapped here forever?_

“I know. …Gods help me, I know. Will you help me?”

“Yes, General Ironwood. Always.”

_What are you doing?_

~*~*~

“Mr. and Mrs. Alabaster? I’m terribly sorry for your loss. Your daughter was a wonderful student.”

“Thank you, General Ironwood.”

“I’m afraid, however, that I have something to ask of you.”

“Of course, General.”

“Now, this illness your daughter had. We have yet to find a cause of it. We were hoping, as your daughter was in such good health beforehand, that an autopsy would yield some sort of insight.”

_You’re lying._

“You wouldn’t be able to bury her, however, due to contamination issues.”

_You always told me not to lie._

“Would it help people?”

“Yes. So many people. In such huge ways.”

_When did you change?_

“Then we’ll let you. Whatever it takes to save the world, right?”

“Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Alabaster. Again, I’m sorry for your loss. If there’s anything I can do to help.”

_Was it because of me?_

“Thank you, General Ironwood. You’re a good man.”

~*~*~

“Are you ready?”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this… Sir.”

“The relic can alter her appearance. No one will know who she was.”

_I will._

“We will.”

“…Yes. And we won’t forget her sacrifice to save the world.”

“…You didn’t…”

“No! I would never. The illness was tragic, but, both unfortunately and not, opportune.”

“And what of the illness? Are you certain the relic will fix that?”

“We found a cure. The others will be fine. I can only hope the relic will have the same effect on the dead. Magic is uncertain at the best of times.”

“Yes. It is.”

“Now, let’s start.”

_Wait._

“Wait.”

“What?”

_What was her name?_

“What’s her name?”

“Blanche.”

_Thank you._

“Okay. Let’s start.”

~*~*~

“She looks just like her.”

“Almost. There are a few details but… yes. You did well.”

“Thank you.” …Are you certain this will work?”

“One way to find out. Start the machine.”

“Yes, General.”

~*~*~

_Shadows._

_Light._

_Darkness._

_Bright._

_Sound and silence._

_Movement._

_Warmth._

_Where am I?_

_What am I?_

_What is this light?_

_I’m…_

Alive.

~*~*~

“Penny?”

Blurred words and blurred movement beyond a veil that existed beyond closed eyes.

“Penny?”

A shuffle, a shiver. Warmth and wetness but not discomfort. Comfort, instead. Such great comfort that movement seemed impossible.

“Wake up.”

To sleep, to dream, to wake, to wonder. To _live._ What was this sensation in her lungs? Was it… breathing?

But how could a dead girl breathe?

“Open your eyes, Penny.”

She did.

Water. Water swarmed her vision. It surrounded her. A tube pressed into her mouth. It forced air into lungs she shouldn’t have had.

She’d never lived. So how had she died?

She’d never been real, so how was she here?

“Penny?” Mr. Ironwood’s voice was murky, echoing, like it was from a distance. Penny squinted through the water and saw a blurry outline of him on the other side. “Can you hear me?”

She nodded.

The water drained around her. She lowered until her cold, bare feet pressed against cold glass and colder metal. She blinked, slow and steady, and found her eyes moistening, adjusting. Out of focus but _real_. Where were her overlays? Her HUD?

Why was she breathing through a tube? Why was she breathing at all?

She was a machine. Machines didn’t breathe.

She stumbled, fell forward, collapsed. Mr. Ironwood’s arms wrapped around her, warm and solid.

“You’re alive,” he breathed. He lowered them both to the floor, wrapping his coat around her. “By the Gods, it worked. You’re _alive._ ” Gently, he pulled the tube from her throat and Penny grimaced, muscles moving reflexively to force her to take in air on her own.

_Lungs._

She had _lungs._

She could feel her heart beating beneath her skin, beneath her ribs. _Real_ skin. _Real_ ribs.

What _was_ she?

_Who_ was she?

Everything before was so blurry. Everything before was so… strange. Ethereal. Unreal.

Surely, it wasn’t real?

What had… what had that magic done to her?

“What… am I?” she managed to get out, her voice crackling in its hoarseness. In its _humanity._ She tasted the air for the first time. Tasted everything for the first time. Bitter with antiseptic but _real._

“Human,” said Mr. Ironwood, tears in his voice and in his eyes. But Penny’s vision was still out of focus. Still strange to her. Why was it so bare? “I… I made you human.”

_Blanche._

Penny’s stomach dropped, now that she had a stomach to drop.

“We won’t forget her sacrifice,” Penny murmured, clinging tighter to Mr. Ironwood’s jacket.

“Penny…”

“Mr. Ironwood?” she started, looking up at him.

“Call me James, please,” he murmured.

She nodded and let him help her to her feet. Unsteady and light as they were. She was so _light._ She felt as if she could _fly._ And her aura. It was so different than before. So much brighter, so much stronger. As if all its inconsistencies were brushed away.

Fueled by the aura of a dead girl and her grieving parents.

Penny swallowed what she could only assume was bile.

“Here,” murmured James, pressing glasses onto her face with gentle hands. “We couldn’t fix your eyes, but these glasses are to the right prescription, and they should give you your HUD.”

Sure enough, the lenses lit up and Penny had her displays back, all connected to information she’d seen before.

“We killed someone,” said Penny, softly, staring down at her bare feet. She wiggled her toes. She’d never had toes before. She’d been made with her boots. It had been easier.

She liked toes.

“No, Penny. We gave her a second chance, in you,” said James. He reached out and brushed her hair away, and oh, her hair was so much softer now. And longer. It brushed her shoulders, slightly darker than it had been before. She wondered how many little things had changed. How much of her had fused with Blanche.

Had their auras? Their souls?

She nodded. “Why?” she asked.

“Because the world needs you,” said James, taking her face in both hands. He bent low and pressed his forehead to hers. She was taller, then. They couldn’t have done that before. “ _I_ need you.”

Penny wrapped her fingers around his wrists and let herself relax. “Thank you,” she whispered. She _was_ thankful. And she wouldn’t let Blanche’s sacrifice be in vain. She would mourn her. Learn about her. She would use this chance to do well by Blanche. To make her sacrifice worth it all. To make her parents’ unknowing sacrifice worth it all.

“Well, what do you want to do?” asked James. He stepped away from her and spread his arms. “You could eat, take a walk, go see the libraries or the museums. Or stay here and tinker with me until you’re stronger.”

Penny swallowed, debating his words in her mind, but she already knew the answer. She’d known it from the moment she’d woken up.

Perhaps even before that.

“You once told me that my mission was to save the world,” said Penny. She clenched her hands at her sides as tightly as she could, aware of the weakness of her limbs, the pulsing of her heart, the movement of her blood beneath her skin.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” said James, softly. “Not after everything you lost.”

“The world is falling, isn’t it?” she asked. James nodded. That solidified Penny’s answer even further. “Then, I want to.” She lifted her chin, holding herself steady despite her fear, her confusion, and her weakness. “Where do start?”

James sighed, closing is eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. When he opened his eyes, he said, “Haven Academy. We suspect they’ll strike there, next.” He looked to her, sadness and happiness mixing in his eyes like a thunderstorm in the morning sky. “Are you up for the task?”

Penny nodded and gave James a sharp salute. “Don’t worry, James. I’m combat ready!”

He smiled, and Penny saw hope and laughter in that smile. “Then let’s get started.”


End file.
